In the Nick of Time
by isadorathegreat
Summary: HIATUS Danny is freaking out about his academic future, but between souped-up enemies, his parents' escapades, and a kid claiming to be his time travelling third cousin twice removed, will he ever calm down enough to decide on taking Home Ec. or Woodshop?


**Timeline Notes:** While this story is set between the second and third seasons, the author does not recommend reading it unless the reader is ready to be spoiled for every episode, including _Phantom Planet_.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Danny Phantom_ or any related characters. Butch Hartman does.

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**_Just in Time_**

- Prologue: Twenty Years Later -

Brian Fenton had the wind knocked out of him when his grandfather dropped a Fenton Bazooka onto his lap. He was so busy trying to breathe that he missed what his grandfather said as the large man ran outside, slamming the front door behind him.

When he managed to shove the gigantic weapon off himself, Brian realized why exactly his grandfather left it with him. Dried ectoplasm coated the barrel of the gun, loose circuits were protruding dangerously from the sides, and he was fairly sure there was the faint smell of smoke surrounding it.

Brian sighed, knowing he was going to have to fix the weapon right there on the living room floor. He couldn't leave his sister alone to work on it on the basement, now that they were the only living beings in the house. He was the older one! He had to take responsibility!

As he began methodically stripping down the gun, he wondered who exactly could have used it. His mother had always been partial to the Fenton Wrist Rays, saying they were "the perfect accessory of pain". His godfather/adopted uncle preferred the discreet Fenton Lipstick for some unfathomable reason. His Aunt Jazz liked using the Jack o' Nine Tails and his grandfather was ecstatic every time he donned a pair of Fenton Ghost Gloves.

Brian himself could use every weapon in the Fenton Weapons Vault with relative ease, but he always found himself reaching for a pair of standard ecto-guns: completely mundane, easy to handle, and easy to repair. His younger sister, Maddie, was only six, so she wasn't allowed to even touch a weapon unless absolutely necessary.

So that left his grandmother, because _everyone_ knew Aunt Dani and his dad didn't need a single piece of weaponry to fight ghosts -

No. Brian did _not_ want to think about his father right now.

Throwing himself into fixing the bazooka to try to derail his train of thought, he dimly realized his sister had brought up his tools from the lab and was now stretched across the couch. Her blue eyes dull with boredom, she picked up the remote and started channel surfing through their grandparents' antique television. A familiar image caught her eye and she was suddenly jumping up and down with excitement. The thick, black pigtails she wore almost everyday hit her back, punctuating each word she said with a slap.

"Brian!" _slap_ "Look!" _slap_ "It's!" _slap_ "Mommy!" _slap_ "She's!" _slap_ "On!" _slap_ "TV!" _slap_ "Look!" _slap_ "Look!" _slap_ "Look!" _slap_

The young boy glanced at the television to see that Maddie was right. Their mother, in all her purple jumpsuited glory, was flipping and blasting in front of a news camera, obviously after a ghost. It was strange to see her in the jumpsuit, the one she wore only for emergencies, instead of her regular business suit. A lump of guilt grew in Brian's throat when he remembered she had been wearing the traditional ghost hunting outfit for almost a week.

He watched as his mother cornered the shadowy ghost (_Spectra, that was her name_, he thought) and suck it into the Fenton Flask, the one he helped his grandparents design. The cameraman, the only one left in the battlefield besides his mother, gave a whoop of joy. Brian's mother looked around, startled, before seeing the man and giving the camera a shy grin.

The screen switched back to the news station, where a beautiful, if slightly short woman looked eager give the news of the day.

"_This is Yvette Ubetcha, saying what an exciting battle that was! For viewers at home who haven't recognized this butt-kicking mistress of the spirit world, that was Samantha Fenton, noted environmental lobbyist and part-time ghost hunter. Lately, as the number of ghosts attacks have dramatically increased and government authorities are slow to respond, several of Amity Park's most distinguished citizens have decided to risk it all and fight back_."

A storm of images flew across the screen. There was Brian's grandparents, fighting in a mall parking lot against a giant green blob. Aunt Jazz was protecting her twin daughters from a huge, glowing wasp. Uncle Tuck was trying to save a class of kindergarteners and hit on a pretty school teacher at the same time and was actually succeeding.

Then came a clip of the Huntress shooting at the ever-present Box Ghost. Brian knew that the Huntress had been fighting ghosts almost as long as his parents had, but unlike his parents, no one knew her true identity. Oh, he _knew_ that most of the adults in his life knew, but their lips were completely sealed when it came to that particular secret.

The anchorwoman greeted Brian's scowling face with a solemn look of her own when she showed up on the screen again.

"_There have never been this many ghosts in our fair city at the same time since the first wide-spread spectral invasion of Amity Park, nicknamed the Ecto-Storm of 2005. We strongly caution our viewers to stay indoors, behind an ecto-shield if possible, and to not go out alone or without a weapon certified by the International Ghost Hunters Society._

_In other news, several experts have suggested that because Special Deputy Daniel Fenton, more commonly known as Danny Phantom, is currently in a coma at Amity Hospital, ghosts feel more free to _-"

Brian quickly snatched the remote control, ignoring Maddie's cry of protest. He flipped through the channels until _Clint's Hints_ came on. Knowing the show would keep her occupied, he tossed the remote onto the couch and turned his attention back to the Fenton Bazooka.

He knew very well why he was throwing himself into whatever chore he managed to get his hands on. Brian desperately tried to block the memories his mind stubbornly clung to. He remembered the rain pelting at his hunched form, the splash the puddles made when he angrily stomped into them, and the way his dad shouted his name right before -

Caught up in his internal struggle, Brian didn't notice Maddie changing the channel to a documentary, one that had been playing frequently that week.

"_Danny Phantom is not only Earth's savior and duly deputized protector of Amity Park, he's also the creator of several award-winning graphic novel series, such as _My Life as a Teenage Halfa _and _Crash Nebula -"

Brian quickly whipped around and pulled the television's plug from the wall socket.

"That's it, Maddie!" He was furious. Why couldn't she realize that he didn't want to think about _him_? "Go play with your dumb dolls or something, because you're not watching anymore TV!"

"This isn't fair! You big meanie!" Maddie sobbed. "You're just mad because Daddy -"

"I don't want to talk about this." The cold tone in Brian's voice stopped Maddie's crying and an awkward silence fell between the two siblings. Brian wished he hadn't taken out his frustrations and guilt on his little sister, and was about to apologize when Maddie spoke up.

"I miss him," she sniffed. "I wish that stupid accident never happened."

As if a light bulb had gone off in his head, Brian leaped up, his mind whirling with plans. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of this before! It was so obvious!

"Maddie!" shouted Brian, rushing up to his sister and sweeping her into a hug. "You're a genius!"

"Huh?"

"I'll find Dad's friend, Clockman or Cuckoo or whatever, and I'll ask him to send me back in time and then I can make sure _the accident never happens!_"

Apprehension began to dawn and a thrilled Brian started pulling his sister towards the basement door. An almost unnoticeable frown appeared on Maddie's face.

"Brian, doesn't Clockwork live in the Ghost Zone?" she asked.

"Of course!" he chirped. Brian hadn't been this happy in weeks.

"How are you gonna get there if you still haven't finished learning how to fly?"

_That_ stopped Brian in his tracks.

"Uhh ... maybe ... " he muttered. He thought for another few seconds before snapping his fingers. "I'll take the Specter Speeder!"

"But isn't it broken?" replied Maddie innocently.

Brian continued pulling on the girl's arm until they reached the entrance of the lab. Ignoring the various warning signs pasted on, he wrenched open the door.

"Then I'll fix it! Grandpa Fenton says I'm almost as good as him now at fixing machines." Brian was so giddy with the prospect of saving his dad from that horrible accident, he unconsciously started floating down the stairs.

It wasn't until he saw the large scorch marks, the bent metal bumper and the circuit board in pieces did Brian stop floating, his feet landing on the ground with a thud.

"This ... is going to take a while."

**To be continued ...**

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**A/N:** Yay for finally finishing this! We'll be switching to the present Team Phantom in the next chapter. 

There are terms in here that some readers aren't going to get. I'll just tell you the ones you can't look up on Wikipedia or Google.

Fenton Flask is a future version of the Fenton Thermos, one that I made up. Ecto-Storm of 2005 is what people call Pariah Dark's attack on Amity Park during _Reign Storm_, which I made up (the name, I mean). The nickname Cuckoo was first coined by **HiddenAuthor** in his fanfic, _Complications_.

**To people who read the previous version of this fanfic:** I'm very, very sorry for deleting the older version, but the story has drastically changed. This is mostly due to me watching _Phantom Planet_, but some due to plot holes, like Clockwork's tower is not affected by time. (Thank you, **Dpbuckeye**, for pointing that out.) I hope you enjoy this updated version. I also want to thank the people who reviewed, alerted, favourited, C2'd or read the previous version of this fanfic for their support.

_Original Post Date: August 10/2007_


End file.
